Louisiana Demographics

As of July 2005 (prior to the landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita), Louisiana has an estimated population of 4,523,628, which is an increase of 16,943, or 0.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 54,670, or 1.2%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 129,889 people (that is 350,818 births minus 220,929 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 69,373 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 20,174 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 89,547 people.

The center of population of Louisiana is located in Pointe Coupee Parish, in the city of New Roads [3].

The oldest Louisianian ever was Addie Cook. Cook, a lifetime New Orleanian, was born on August 27, 1867 and died on December 3, 1978, at the age of 111 in a New Orleans nursing home.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 4.66% of the population aged 5 and over speak French or Cajun French at home, while 2.53% speak Spanish [4].

The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American and Franco-African (32.5%), French / French Canadian (16.2%), American (10.1%), German (7.1%), Irish (7%) and Italian (4.4%).

Louisiana is home to the second-largest proportion of black Americans (32.5%) in the United States, behind neighboring Mississippi (36.3%).

Official Census statistics do not distinguish among people of African ancestry. Consequently, no distinction is made between those in Louisiana of English-speaking African-American heritage and those who consider themselves Franco-African or Créole, though their respective cultural identities may be quite different.

Franco-Africans and African-American blacks, who made up a majority of the state's population during much of the 19th century, dominate much of the southeast, central, and northern parts of the state, particularly those parishes along the Mississippi River valley. But in recent years, the percentage of whites in those areas has grown, as large numbers of white senior citizens have begun to relocate there because of the friendly atmosphere, mild winters, low taxes, and beautiful scenery.

Creoles and Cajuns of French Canadian and Acadian ancestry are dominant in much of the southern part of the state. While many people elsewhere in the United States use "creole" to refer to mixed-race peoples, Louisiana creoles also may be whites of French ancestry or people of predominantly African backgrounds. The creole population also includes people of Spanish ancestry, most notably Isleños of Canary Islander ancestry, who live along the southern Gulf coast.

New Orleans was one of the only large cities in the Southern United States in the nineteenth century, and it attracted a sizeable number of Irish, German, and Italian immigrants. Before the Louisiana Purchase, some German families also settled in a rural area along the lower Mississippi valley, then known as the German Coast, and assimilated into Cajun and Creole communities.

Whites of Southern U.S. background predominate in northern Louisiana. These people are predominantly of English, Welsh, and Scots Irish backgrounds, and share a common culture with the white Americans of neighboring states.

New Orleans has long had close connections to Latin America and the Caribbean. Many immigrants and exiles arrived from Cuba and Honduras beginning in the nineteenth century. In recent years, Mexican immigration has increased. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, a large number of naturalized and undocumented Latino immigrants have become workers in the construction and service industries. The descendants of earlier Spanish-speaking arrivals, such as the Isleños and other Spanish creoles, may identify as white European Americans rather than as Hispanics or Latinos.

Louisiana's Asian population includes the descendants of Chinese workers arrived in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, often from the Caribbean. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of Vietnamese and other southeast Asian refugees came to the Gulf Coast to work in the fishing and shrimping industries.

An estimate made in 2006 shows that 50,209 Asians live in Louisiana.

Louisiana Population Density Map